Vivienne Westwood Collaborates

26 May

shoes

So, what you’re looking at are my big feet (which my Dad always teasingly told me were like a clowns ::frowing::). I wear a size ten. I can’t change this, I’m not sure I would because I like my feet for the most part, except when I can’t find my size. Size five and ten are on the outer limits of a shoe line up and therefore, stores are offered only one or two boxes of these sizes instead of the three or four they get in size eight. It’s an injustice, I know. ::shaking head:: I wore these pieces of art to work today. Let’s see if I get away with it. As in, what colleague might procure the most awkward “compliment”. Plastic shoes are a bit “out-there” I suppose.

What did I say? Gilt.com can be a PROBLEM. Hence, the plastic Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes. With bows. These shoes have surprisingly good padding, which I wish more women’s shoe manufacturers would use in their shoes. I can’t imagine how much less pain I’d be in if more designers would jump on the designing-for-comfort-and-function shoe wagon. However, I think this is how Crocs came about, and maybe loafers, also Uggs (which it turns out might give you a pigeon walk, if not a penguin. It’s all that shuffling. I pity the sorority girls in their denim skirts). It’s not pretty; but damn, there’s gotta be a way to work a shoe that’s beautiful and one you can walk in for eight hours. We’ll see if I still love these at the end of the day, or if they end up making my feet sweat.

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The Melin Oxford

25 May

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May I just say that I’m in love with Gilt.com. It can be mighty pricey but when it’s good, it’s really good, and score!! I hate paying full price for anything, and having worked in wholesale, I know I’m being ripped off anyway, no matter how deeply discounted an item is nor where I’m buying it. However, I always would rather buy something very nice for a discount than to buy something cheap that will fall apart in a year, especially shoes (well, there are exceptions like a simple tee or socks…but I digress). Gilt, quite nicely, is akin to a continuous sample sale of goodies on trend (and items currently in the stores – yay!!). Combine that with quick shipping and a $25 credit when you sign your friends up, it’s pretty much a go – though I can attest, if you’re prone to being a shopaholic, you might want to steer clear.

Though I may wrinkle my nose at wearing trends, I’m pretty psyched about the oxford. I’ve searched in vain for a pretty pair for years, and was fairly certain they might not make their way back into fashionable circles. Which is why, however much my nose may wrinkle, I’m willing to jump on this particular item of the moment. I’m pretty sure I wore a pair like these, which may be why I’m particularly drawn to them in a child-like way. But, upon receiving them, despite my excitement at their shiny, leather soled, two-tone glory (and the fact that someone asked if I was wearing tap shoes), I thought, what the hell does one wear with these? Socks (too clunky?), but maybe hosiery? Bare ankles probably look the best…??? I thought I’d give it some google research and voila! Check out the link for some perfect examples (I especially love Sienna Miller’s yellow brouges). I am not alone in my obsession.

Farmer’s Market

17 May

Farmer's Market

I love the farmer’s market. I love everything about the way the herbs smell when you’re walking through the market (and that those herbs are only $1 for a bundle), the children laughing, the neighbors catching up, the yelling vendors, the sampling customers, the bongo players, blue-grass trios, acoustic guitar solos – all singing for a buck – the fresh fish, the even fresher olive oil (Verni’s – you MUST try it, tastes like it’s straight from Italy and pressed just the week before. $17 for a bottle, just $20 for the bottle and fresh olives) – all sitting in simple lines down two streets every Sunday morning.

The market will always remind me of home, those foothills of Colorado, the birthplace of Alfalfa’s, Whole Foods, etc. Growing up, people who chose organic foods were called “tree huggers” and “granolas” but as evidenced by the throngs of people purchasing organic produce today, general cultural concerns and tastes are shifting. Buying hemp clothing and organic fruit is no longer just for “tree huggers.”

The crowd is luxurious and uplifting in colorful knits and Breton tees, pink lipsticks and flowing skirts, camper shoes and hipster gear. My favorite part is the music, and mostly an older gentleman who plays the accordion, sending squeezebox melodies through the array. He is just as handsome and charming now as he must have been in his younger days.

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market

FACEHUNTED – L.A.

13 May

If you’re an avid fashion consumer, then you’ll no doubt be acquainted with those photographer bloggers who so aptly capture the stylish women across the globe. If you’re fans of The Sartorialist, Garance Dore, Style/Click, Mr. Newton, JAK & JIL, or any number of street style blogs out there, you’ll find a kindred spirit in Yvan Rodic of Facehunter, who recently spent a few days in L.A. Most of his photos were taken right around my neighborhood, on rooftops right above Hollywood Blvd. Enjoy!!

FACEHUNTER in L.A.

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Rainbow

8 May

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Fairfax Avenue & Santa Monica Blvd

Shaving

7 May

My neighbor is currently shaving his chest on the porch while he reads a script. Though it’s not wholly uncomfortable, it’s a little awkward. Like when someone has toilet paper stuck on their shoe. It takes the private and puts it in public.

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Engrish off the 101

7 May

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A friend of mine took this snap near the 101 Highway. He thought it was funny because it reads like an Engrish sign. Incidentally, lovers of Asian signage marked with confused English translations, such as “slip and fall carefully”, “fragrant and hot Marxism” and drinks with the name “Jew’s Ear Juice” (as The Sartorialist recently discovered), might soon be extinct (though I’m sure various paraphernalia will remain). Zhao Huimin, the “former Chinese deputy consul general to the United States who, as director general of the capital’s Foreign Affairs Office, has been leading the fight for linguistic standardization and sobriety,” says that “the purpose of signage is to be useful, not to be amusing.”

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For the Love of Urth

7 May

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Urth Cafe and their signature foamy design. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a swan. The arrival of my coffee is so exciting at 7am in the morning, I always have to take a picture of my cup. Simple pleasures….

See?!:

Coffee,Urth

Coffee,Urth

Melrose Avenue & La Cienega

The Doctor is in

19 Apr

Graffiti

Venice Beach

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8:00am and the Party’s Just Begun

19 Apr

She keeps placing the five dollar sunglasses on her face, turning to the rest of us in line, and saying loudly with valley-girl whine, “They’re so cute right?!” Her blond hair swishes back and forth and she calls the checker “babe.”

“I used to pay $700 for sunglasses but I’d buy a 1,000 of these, I mean at five dollars…it’d be like…(kind of mumbling, doing the math in her head)…anyway, the recession..RIGHT?!” She shuffles in her five inch patent leather shoes, barely clothed in a black top with slits up the sides so deep, I can see the whole of her back to the top of her g-string. Just a two inch strip connects the garment in the back, it slides from the top of her neck and drapes low at the bottom. She must be freezing in her tiny shorts!

Though her body confidence is enviable. I’d never wear anything so…revealing.

She’s buying a six pack of corona, cigs, glasses and something else I cannot see alongside her mohawked boyfriend, who seems to have forgotten his belt. His pants are sagging to TMI limits and he looks tired. I’m not sure these two have gone to bed.

It’s 8:00am on Hollywood Blvd at CVS.

Sometimes I just love this town for its drunken, skanky eccentricity.

On my way home, I have to pass by the couple, and I watch them as they stagger down Hollywood, taking photos of each other and laughing, just having a great time.

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